Expandable splint

ABSTRACT

Expandable articles comprising flat interleaved sheets of bendable material some portions of which overlap, and fastening means securing the sheets together in the overlapping portions without obstructing relative movement of the remaining portions of the sheets to bend the unfastened positions of the sheets independently of each other and bulk the article. The bulked article can function as a diaper, wipe or other absorbent, or as a pillow or other kind of spacer.

United States Patent 1 1 Schaar 1 *Dec. 2, 1975 1 1 EXPANDABLE SPLlNT [75] inventor: Charles H. Schaar, Lake Zurich, 111.

[73] Assignee'. The Kendall Company, Boston,

Mass.

1 1 Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to May 27, 1992,

has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: June 6, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 476,951

Related US. Application Data [60] Division of Ser. No. 378,405, July 12, 1973, which is a division of Ser. No. 128,267, March 26, 1971, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 41,377, May 28. 1970, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 128/87 R [51] Int. C1, A61F 5/04 [58] Field of Search 128/87, 88, 89, 156, 284,

[5 61 References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3/1950 Rabell 128/285 2,714,771 8/1955 Olfene 161/49 3,036,573 5/1962 Voigtman 128/287 3,359,981 12/1967 Hochstrasscr... 128/285 3,496,934 2/1970 Anderson 128/88 3,624,745 11/1971 Bowers 128/87 R 3,695,258 10/1972 Castle 128/87 R Primary ExaminerRichard A. Gaudet Assistant Examiner.l. Yasko Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Ellen P. Trevors [57] ABSTRACT Expandable articles comprising flat interleaved sheets of bendable material some portions of which overlap, and fastening means securing the sheets together in the overlapping portions without obstructing relative movement of the remaining portions of the sheets to bend the unfastened positions of the sheets independently of each other and bulk the article. The bulked article can function as a diaper, wipe or other absorbent, or as a pillow or other kind of spacer.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 1 of4 3,923,048

Sheet 4 of4 3,923,048

US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 EXPANDABLE SPLINT This is a division of application Ser. No. 378,405 filed July 12, 1973 which is a division of application Ser. No. 128,267 filed Mar. 26, 1971 which in turn is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 41,377 filed May 28, 1970, now abandoned.

This invention relates to articles which are expandable to provide bulk, which articles in their bulked form are useful for a variety of purposes, for example, as fillers, absorbents, insulators, spacers and the like. In many such uses the articles are of the disposable type.

More specifically, this invention relates to an expandable article which comprises a plurality of sheets of bendable material superposed together in flat planar relation and presenting more layers in a central region than in other regions, and at least one fastening means retaining said interleaved sheets in superposed planar relation in the central region while permitting remain ing portions of the sheets to be moved into irregularly bent layers which patulously bulk the product as by the formation of cusps or conical areas. The article is retained in its expanded form by the cusps or conical areas, or other opposed non-planar irregularities in the moved layers.

Illustrative of the articles included in the scope of this invention are disposable diapers for infants and geriatric patients; pillows, such as for ambulances, airplanes, etc.; temporary splints for first-aid kits; handkerchiefs; absorbent wipes; dusting and polishing materials; body swabs; surgical sponges; insulating panels; sanitary pads; disposable adsorbent bonnets for use after washing and/or treating hair; etc.

The structure of said articles will be better understood by reference to the following description of the invention and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the article of this invention prior to expansion;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the article of FIG. 1 after expansion;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view ofa modified form of article with the sheets spaced from one another for clar- FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the article of FIG. 3 after expansion;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention prior to expansion;

FIG. 6 is a similar perspective view of another embodiment of this invention prior to expansion;

FIG. 7 is a similar perspective view of another embodiment of this invention prior to expansion;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a tubular form of the invention useful as a splint;

FIG. 9 is a view of the splint of FIG. 8 in its expanded form applied to a human limb;

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an expandable article 10 comprising interleaved sheets ll, l2, l3, 14 of absorbent tissue paper. The inner edges of these sheets are overlapped and the sheets secured together at central area 16 by any suitable fastening means such as crimping, adhesive, double-face pressure-sensitive adhesive tabs, stapling, combinations thereof, etc. Futhermore, area 16 is shown for purposes of illustration only; fastening can be achieved at many other locations on the article.

In order to expand the article illustrated in FIG. 1, one merely holds the ends of the article remote from the overlaps and pulls in a direction which is perpendicular to the overlapped edges (arrows 20) along a line offset from a line passing through the fastened portion running in the direction of pull, thereby obtaining the bulked article illustrated in FIG. 2. The bulk is retained due to crumpled distortion of the layers which prevents them from returning to their original flat configuration.

Sheets 11, 12, 13, 14 can be any bendable material, selection being dependent upon the end use of the article. Thus, where disposable diapers, pillows, handkerchiefs, etc. are intended, soft absorbent materials such as paper; creped wadding; sponge sheeting, e.g. urethane sponge; etc. are used; while fiberglass or asbestos sheeting can be employed in the construction of insulating panels.

Although the article depicted in FIG. 1 comprises four sheets, the invention encompasses articles having two, three and preferably four or more interleaved sheets, the number being dependent on the intended end use and the friction or stiffness of the material of which the sheets are comprised.

While the overlapping edges appear in alignment in FIG. 1, random amounts of overlapping are contemplated. Furthermore, the individual sheets may be staggered in a relationship other than one-to-one, i.e. twoto-two, three-to-one or more. The extent of overlap will determine the final size of the article upon expansion.

In FIG. 3, interleaved sheets 31, 32, 33, 34 are fastened at the side edges 36 and 37. In this case, when the ends are pulled the article is pinched in and the layers move independently to form cusps. This cusping effect results in the edge of one layer catching on the face of an adjacent layer to tent" the layers. Thus, the process of expanding the article of this invention adds a dimension to an intially regularly compact, planar article by bending the layers into cusps or other non-planar configurations.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the article is necked down in the intermediate portion thereof upon expansion.

FIG. 5 depicts an article similar to that of FIG. 3 with the exception that interleaving and overlapping is achieved by folding individual sheets. Thus, sheets 51 and 52 are folded as shown and secured together at points 56 and 57. Using this basic type of construction, it will be apparent that an article can be constructed from a single sheet of bendable material by making multiple folds both at the sides of the article and in the central portion thereof.

FIG. 6 illustrates an article having sheets 61, 62, 63, 64 in which corners of alternate sheets are torn away to provide means for grasping the remaining sheets. The sheets are secured together at point 60. This construction permits the article to be expanded by pulling the alternate sheets, in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows in the drawing.

In FIG. 7, two stacks of sheets of bendable material, and 71, are arranged in an overlapping relationship wherein the stacks are cut inwardly along parallel lines and the intervening material is then folded inwardly towards the center. Thus, lines 76, 77, 78, 79 represent the cut lines. In this embodiment of the invention, the folded portions of the sheets function as retaining means. The individual sheets comprising stacks 70 and 71 can be individually cut, folded and assembled in a random or alternating overlapping relationship, or the overlapped stacks can be cut and folded together. Expansion by pulling as indicated in the drawing provides an article having greatly increased fluff in the intermediate portion. In a variation of this construction, the folded portions of one or more of the individual sheets comprising stacks 70 and 71 can be opened to lie flush with the article.

ln FIG. 8, a tubular article having sides 80, 81, 82 is illustrated, each side comprising a set of at least two sheets. Sheets 83 and 84 of side 80 are shown to depict the manner in which the sheets are interleaved. Preferably, these are sheets of aluminum foil or thin pliable metal. Fastening is achieved at any point or points along the lines joining the sides together by any of the aforementioned suitable means. This particular construction is preferred in the construction of splints wherein a limb is inserted into the article which is subsequently expanded by pulling in the direction shown in the drawing until the article becomes rigid enough to protect and immobilize the limb, as shown in FIG. 9.

While this invention has been described above in detail with respect to certain preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the drawings, other modifications and design changes are also contemplated which are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A splint comprising a plurality of bulkable products, each of said bulkable products comprising bendable sheet material superposed together in flat planar relation and presenting more layers of said sheet material in a central region of said product than in other regions thereof, means retaining portions of said layers in said central region in said superposed planar relation and remaining portions of said sheet material being movable independently of each other in a predetermined direction into irregularly bent non-planar layers patulously bulking said product and retaining said product in bulked configuration, said bulkable products being secured together so as to form a tubular article. 

1. A splint comprising a plurality of bulkable products, each of said bulkable products comprising bendable sheet material superposed together in flat planar relation and presenting more layers of said sheet material in a central region of said product than in other regions thereof, means retaining portions of said layers in said central region in said superposed planar relation and remaining portions of said sheet material being movable independently of each other in a predetermined direction into irregularly bent non-planar layers patulously bulking said product and retaining said product in bulked configuration, said bulkable products being secured together so as to form a tubular article. 